Document processing apparatus

Abstract

A document processing apparatus which can edit to a sheet which is displayed on a display screen. This apparatus includes: a format setting device to set format information regarding a character editing, a size information deciding device to decide size information in which an interval corresponding to the format information is used as a unit; a figure input device to input a figure on the same display screen as that upon the character editing; and a display controller for controlling the display such that the figure input by the figure input device is displayed in accordance with the size information decided by the size information deciding device. The size information includes a point train called grids serving as reference marks when inputting a figure. With this apparatus, characters, a figure, a picture, and a form can be input and edited to arbitrary positions on a document while observing the state of the print bound document without newly designating an area. One integrated document consisting of a plurality of pages in which characters, figures, pictures, and forms exist can be output by a single output instruction.

We claim: 
     
       1. A document processing apparatus for processing a sheet displayed on a display screen, comprising: format setting means for setting format information regarding character editing displayed on the display screen;   figure input means for inputting a figure on the same display screen as that upon which said character editing is displayed;   grid information generating means for determining a grid pitch in response to the format information set by said format setting means; and   display control means for controlling the display screen such that the figure input by said figure input means is displayed in accordance with the grid pitch determined by said grid information generating means.   
     
     
       2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said format information includes at least line pitch information and character pitch information. 
     
     
       3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display control means controls the display screen such that at least one portion of the figure which is input by said figure input means passes through to a grid point. 
     
     
       4. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: character data memory means for storing character data managed on a page unit basis;   figure data memory means for storing figure data managed on a page unit basis;   picture data memory means for storing picture data managed on a page unit basis; and   form data memory means for storing form data.   
     
     
       5. A document processing apparatus for managing a document on the basis of format information including page information, comprising: character data memory means for storing character data managed on a page unit basis;   figure data memory means for storing figure data managed on a page unit basis;   picture data memory means for storing picture data managed on a page unit basis;   form data memory means for storing form data; and   control means for processing the data stored in each of said memory means so that the data stored in each memory means can be displayed on the same page on the basis of the page information included in the format information, wherein at least the character data and the figure data can be overlapped with each other, and wherein said control means processes the data stored in each of said memory means such that at least two of the character data, the figure data, the picture data, and the form data have a higher priority over the other data in being displayed.   
     
     
       6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said control means assigns an address to the processed data indicating a destination of the processed data on the basis of the page information. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said control means stores flag data indicating which type of data is processed so that said data can be displayed on the same page on the basis of the page information. 
     
     
       8. A document processing apparatus for managing a document on the basis of format information, comprising: first changing means for changing the format information for only a predetermined page from original format information to changed format information;   second changing means for changing the format information of another page to the changed format information of the predetermined page changed by said first changing means; and   output means for outputting the document of each page on the basis of the format information associated with each page.   
     
     
       9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein second changing means changes the changed format information for the another page and pages subsequent to the another page. 
     
     
       10. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said output means is printing means for printing the document and prints each page on the basis of the format information before it is changed by said first changing means and the format information after it is changed by said first and second changing means in response to a single print instruction input to said document processing apparatus. 
     
     
       11. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second changing means sequentially changes the format information of a next page following the predetermined page to the changed format information so long as an instruction to return to the original format information is absent. 
     
     
       12. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second changing means applies only the data changed by said first changing means in said format information to a next page following the predetermined page. 
     
     
       13. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: character data memory means for storing character data managed on a page unit basis;   figure data memory means for storing figure data managed on a page unit basis;   picture data memory means for storing picture data managed on a page unit basis; and   form data memory means for storing form data.   
     
     
       14. A method for processing a sheet displayed on a display screen comprising the steps of: setting the format information regarding character editing displayed on the display screen;   inputting a figure on the same display screen as that upon which character editing is displayed;   determining a grid pitch in response to the format information set in said setting step; and   controlling the display screen such that the input figure is displayed in accordance with the grid pitch determined in said determining step.   
     
     
       15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the format information includes at least line pitch information and character pitch information. 
     
     
       16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the controlling step further comprises the step of controlling the display screen such that at least a portion of the figure which is input corresponds to a grid point. 
     
     
       17. A method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: storing character data managed on a page unit basis in character data memory means;   storing figure data managed on a page unit basis in figure data memory means;   storing picture data managed on a page unit basis in picture data memory means; and   storing form data as data in form data memory means.   
     
     
       18. A method for managing a document on the basis of format information including page information comprising the steps of: storing character data managed on a page unit basis in character data memory means;   storing figure data managed on a page unit basis in figure data memory means;   storing picture data managed on a page unit basis in picture data memory means;   storing form data in form data memory means; and   processing the data stored in each of the memory means so that the data stored in each memory means can be displayed on the same page on the basis of page information included in the format information, wherein at least the character data and the figure data can be overlapped with each other, and wherein at least two of the character data, the figure data, the picture data and the form data have a higher priority over the other data in being displayed.   
     
     
       19. A method according to claim 18, wherein said controlling step further comprises the step of assigning an address to the processed data indicating a destination of the processed data on the basis of the page information. 
     
     
       20. A method according to claim 18, wherein the controlling step further comprises storing flag data indicating which type of data is processed so that the data can be displayed on the same page on the basis of the page information. 
     
     
       21. A method for managing a document on the basis of format information comprising the steps of: changing the format information for only a predetermined page from original format information to changed format information by first changing means;   changing the format information of another page to the changed format information of the predetermined page by second changing means; and   outputting the document of each page on the basis of the format information associated with each page.   
     
     
       22. A method according to claim 21, further comprising the step of changing the changed format information for the another page and pages subsequent to the another page. 
     
     
       23. A method according to claim 21, wherein said continuously outputting step comprises the step of continuously printing the document by printing each page on the basis of the format information before it is changed by the first changing means and the format information after it is changed by the first and second changing means in response to the inputting of a single print instruction to a document processing apparatus performing said changing and outputting steps. 
     
     
       24. A method according to claim 21, further comprising the step of sequentially changing the format information of a next page following the predetermined page to the changed format information so long as an instruction to return to the original format information is absent. 
     
     
       25. A method according to claim 21, further comprising the step of applying only the data changed by the first changing means in the format information to a next page following the predetermined page. 
     
     
       26. A method according to claim 21, further comprising the steps of: storing character data managed on a page unit basis in character data memory means;   storing figure data managed on a page unit basis in figure data memory means;   storing picture data managed on a page unit basis in picture data memory means; and   storing form data as data in form data memory means.